Holiday road toll rises to 14

There are still two more days to go before the official holiday period finishes. File photo/SunLive.

Fourteen people have died during this Christmas-New Year holiday road toll period, surpassing last year's total with two days to go.

Police confirmed one person died following a serious crash on Waihi Road, Judea, Tauranga last night.

The crash, which involved a car and a pedestrian, was reported to police at 9.40pm.

The pedestrian died as a result of the crash.

Police also confirmed one person died following a single vehicle crash on Matawai Rd, Waerengaahika yesterday.

The crash had been reported to emergency services shortly after 4.40pm. Enquiries into the circumstances of the crash were ongoing.

Eleven people died during last year's holiday period.

The Christmas-New Year holiday road toll period finishes at 6am on Wednesday.

Earlier, a motorcyclist died after coming off the road in Northland just after midnight.

The male rider died at the scene on State Highway 12 in Kaihu at around 12.20am.

A motorcycle passenger received moderate injuries and was taken to Whangārei Hospital for treatment.

Road deaths are disproportionately high even despite pandemic lockdowns, the AA says in a statement released in the weekend, with 319 people killed in crashes in 2021.

The figure is only one less than the road toll for 2020, and AA policy manager Simon Douglas says it signalled that New Zealand was not doing what it could to take decisive action on road safety.

He says 100 fewer people would have been killed in 2021 if our roads were as safe as Australia's.

Road safety campaigner Clive Matthew-Wilson says the government needs to stop putting money down the drain with road safety messages and start building median barriers.

He says those prone to crashes are virtually immune to road safety messages and it would be far cheaper and effective to upgrade highway systems with barriers instead.

-Additional reporting from RNZ.

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